Hermetia illucens biofactory: from waste to high value technological products (Hi-TECH)

Black soldier fly (BSF - Hermetia illucens) derived products can be a valuable new source of high-quality bio-based products that can be implemented for technical applications. The project HI-Tech aims to take advantage of the great ability of the BSF larvae to bioconvert unused nutrients left in organic waste, into lipids, proteins, and chitin which could be extracted to produce bio-bases materials for technical applications such as biosufactants, bioplastics, polymers, and pharmaceutical products, among other. In this research, BSF larvae are reared on organic substrates (former products containing meat and fish and catering waste) and rearing products (larvae, puparium, dead flies) assessed for their chemical composition in terms of crude proteins, lipid and chitin as well as their safety (microbiology and heavy metals analyses). After extraction, these compounds are separated and used for technical applications.